Esper has beef with the military’s entrance exam

[rangerrebew]

Esper has beef with the military’s entrance exam
Meghann Myers

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas ― At a time when less than 30 percent of American youth are qualified to join the military ― and less than 1 percent are even interested ― the Pentagon’s top official wants to know whether decades-old accessions standards are still serving the force well.

Those include the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a standardized test that measures language, math and other skills, as well as a long list of medical conditions that wholesale bar some prospective recruits from joining up.

“I think we disqualify very capable people for not very compelling reasons,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Air Force officials Tuesday during a trip to Lackland Air Force Base to visit the service’s basic military training.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/06/17/secdef-has-beef-with-the-militarys-entrance-exam/

[SZonian]

“I think we disqualify very capable people for not very compelling reasons,”  Money quote...it's not all about the test though.

Our son is now in his 3rd year of trying to join the service.  After 2 years of MEPS screwing him around, the AF finally DQ'd him for a one-time skin condition.

He's now been at it with the Army for close to a year, MEPS again...the Army wants him as he's a 90%er (ASVAB) wanting to work in aviation.

The MEPS bureaucrats are some of the worst I've ever seen or heard of.